Who wrote the most?

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Notthemama1984

Puritan Board Post-Graduate
The other thread on who we want to study for our lifetime got me thinking. If I am going to dedicate my life to studying one person, I would like it if that person wrote more than a week's worth of leisure reading. So.....

Who wrote the most? Who would be the top 5?

I know Calvin and Owen wrote quite a bit, but I have no clue if they would be the top guys.
 
Spurgeon wrote much but mostly had people transcribe about everything he preached.

True. If we include the material of his that was written as supposed to merely what he wrote, I would be quite surprised if anyone has a greater volume than him. Of course, if the OP doesn't want to include transcribed material, then fuhgettaboutit.
 
Owen has 24 solid volumes, so that's a significant amount. But the English translation of Luther's works has 54 volumes (not counting the index volume), and that is not his complete works. There are about 58 volumes for Calvin in the Corpus Reformatorum. Spurgeon's writings are very voluminous: after you get past the 64 volumes of sermons (and there are more that could be forthcoming, though I don't know if they will be) then you have a literary output whose quantity is greater than that of most.

But if I may make the observation, I think it is not just quantity that makes for durability. Although compared to some people Goodwin's output of 5/12 volumes (depending on the edition) is relatively small, it would I think take more than one reading to make sure they were mastered. Thus, though James Durham's output is fairly small, the idea of becoming a Durham expert is quite daunting, because one or two readings will not suffice.
 
Brother Ruben,

About your take on Goodwin: I have the opportunity to have the 12 volume set for free, but I don't know when I'd possibly get around to reading it. Would it be a worth-while endeavor to read them, or would going through Owen, Sibbes, Flavel, Durham, or someone else be a more worthwhile task for now? I just don't want to take this set if I won't have a purpose in reading it for a long time.
 
I'll see what the plan is with the books. I had the opportunity with a friend to go through a Reformed library at a brother's house and to take what we wanted with the understanding that the rest of the books from the library are going in storage; what will be done with the stored books is a mystery to me, though they may be kept. Give me some time to find out for sure.
 
You might rather look at whose writing style you could stand to read for a lifetime. For example, I dislike reading Spurgeon. Not everything that makes for great spoken oratory transfers into good writing. I find Luther entertaining, but also irritating. I read him, but probably couldn't do that consistently for a lifetime. On the other hand, I soak up Augustine, Calvin, and Thomas Boston. Any of them (and many others) have sufficient material to keep me, and I suppose you, busy. St. Isidore of Seville once said that the man who claims to have read all of Augustine's works is a liar. :)
 
Sounds good Andrew.

As for transcribed material. I do not mind including that in the discussion. I did not realize that Spurgeon had so many sermons. Does the 58 volume of Calvin include the non-translated works of his?
 
Brother Ruben,

About your take on Goodwin: I have the opportunity to have the 12 volume set for free, but I don't know when I'd possibly get around to reading it. Would it be a worth-while endeavor to read them, or would going through Owen, Sibbes, Flavel, Durham, or someone else be a more worthwhile task for now? I just don't want to take this set if I won't have a purpose in reading it for a long time.

If you can get the set for free, then by all means do so! If you don't want it, I'll take it off your hands and pay the shipping.
You could get a much more informed answer about the relatively profitability of Goodwin vs. other theologians from armourbearer or Prufrock; but I'll remind you that Packer said that no one, not even Owen, has seen as clearly as Goodwin into Paul's heart. My own impression is that he might well be the most profound and (in a good way) imaginative theologian in the Reformed tradition, and one great strength is that he seems to relate everything he writes to the doctrine of the Trinity, which he sets out with striking force and penetration. At the same time, he is one of the great pastoral theologians: it was Thomas Goodwin who comforted Walter Marshall and gave him the insight necessary to write The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification. If I remember rightly, Dr. Mark Jones considers v.4 of the 12-volume works perhaps the finest single volume of theology ever written. Although he's recently been replaced by Anthony Burgess, for some years Goodwin was Dr. Joel Beeke's favorite theologian. So if all of that doesn't scream, "If you let the opportunity to get his works for free slip you by it will later give you sleepless nights filled with cold sweats and spasms of horror", then nothing does.
 
Isidore of Seville said that if anyone claims to have read all of Augustine must be a liar, for too much survives for one man to read.
 
If you can get the set for free, then by all means do so! If you don't want it, I'll take it off your hands and pay the shipping.
You could get a much more informed answer about the relatively profitability of Goodwin vs. other theologians from armourbearer or Prufrock; but I'll remind you that Packer said that no one, not even Owen, has seen as clearly as Goodwin into Paul's heart. My own impression is that he might well be the most profound and (in a good way) imaginative theologian in the Reformed tradition, and one great strength is that he seems to relate everything he writes to the doctrine of the Trinity, which he sets out with striking force and penetration. At the same time, he is one of the great pastoral theologians: it was Thomas Goodwin who comforted Walter Marshall and gave him the insight necessary to write The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification. If I remember rightly, Dr. Mark Jones considers v.4 of the 12-volume works perhaps the finest single volume of theology ever written. Although he's recently been replaced by Anthony Burgess, for some years Goodwin was Dr. Joel Beeke's favorite theologian. So if all of that doesn't scream, "If you let the opportunity to get his works for free slip you by it will later give you sleepless nights filled with cold sweats and spasms of horror", then nothing does.

Whoa! I'm keeping these. :lol: Thank you, sir!
 
Regarding the OP, didn't Baxter write a lot? (But, not sure how much you want to read of his stuff)

Also, to Andrew, I would agree with Ruben. Keep the Goodwin volumes. Great stuff, in my opinion.
As a good intro to Goodwin, Joel Beeke wrote, "A Habitual Sight of Him: The Christ-Centered Piety of Thomas Goodwin" A Habitual Sight of Him: The Christ-Centered Piety of Thomas Goodwin - Reformation Heritage Books
It was a good quick read, and at the end Beeke gives you a reading plan on going through Goodwin's works. Very useful.
 
I'd recommend snagging all you can. Build your library and make a life of reading them. I've lately found that times when I could buy more books are paying me back now when I don't have the resources to buy books. Buy/take ahead, and read later. None of this book-modesty of "i only want what I'll read" nonsense. That's just the Devil talking. As Paul said, "bring me the books!"
 
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